


anything you can do

by Rehearsal_Dweller



Series: Learning Normal, Finding Home [10]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, KIDS ON A QUEEEEEEEEST, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-03
Updated: 2013-12-03
Packaged: 2018-01-03 07:40:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1067823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehearsal_Dweller/pseuds/Rehearsal_Dweller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At 14, Marina and Ellis <i>finally</i> get a quest of their own.<br/>It... doesn't exactly go to plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	anything you can do

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my LORD this is longer than I meant for it to be  
> And doesn't even include my favourite Marina moment from the quest  
> AAH.

It's sort of an open secret that there are a _lot_ of Proper Demigods (one godly parent, one mortal parent) who think that Halfling Half-Bloods (two half-blood parents) aren't actually good for much. 

Marina Jackson, Ellis Grace, and Maya Rodriguez, the oldest of the Halflings, had been campaigning for a quest led by a halfling since they were eleven.

(The problem with that was that, at eleven, they were the oldest Greek halflings. And they hadn't been properly trained yet, just the basics in case something happened at school. A few years later, though, they were just kind of in a holding pattern. They knew what they were doing, they could _totally_ handle a quest, but Chiron was reluctant.)

Just getting to Camp this year had been a battle. Not because of any resistance from Camp itself – of course not. Marina was expected there for safety and training and leading the cabin reasons.

No, after the _incident_ (in a truly stunning combination of half-blood problems and mortal troublemaking, Marina had flooded the second floor of her school – _only_ the second floor – to flush out some monsters and get back at one of her teachers all at once), Nico, Mom, and Dad were threatening to send her to Camp Jupiter for the summer “to learn some discipline.” The only reason she wasn't actually there now was a shouting match and phone calls from both Clarisse and Piper. And Chiron. And a promise that if the summer didn't go well she'd let herself be shipped off to San Francisco for a while.

(She _really_ needed this summer to go well. Not that she had anything against the Romans – in fact, she enjoyed visiting New Rome and Camp Jupiter rather a lot – but it really wasn't her thing. And she was pretty sure that she and Ellis wouldn't be allowed within fifty feet of each other, which would suck. It was meant to be a punishment, after all.)

And then 

_And **then**_

Maya was given a quest. Not a particularly complicated quest, at least not on paper: go rescue an 11-year-old half-blood who was something of a monster-magnet and needed a quick extraction from her mortal summer camp in Kansas. As was traditional, Maya was allowed to choose two friends to accompany her.

“You'll be bringing Miss Jackson and Mr Grace, I assume,” Chiron said before Maya could even open her mouth.

“Yes sir,” she replied, grinning sheepishly. “Are we that predictable?”

“Don't worry about it, Maya,” Chiron said. “Marina's parents were much the same way when they were your age.”

Maya rolled her eyes and ran off to fetch her friends.

“Just try not to cause too much extra trouble!” Chiron called after her.

“No promises!” Maya yelled back.

Ellis and Marina were waiting for her in the cabin.

Of course, for them, “waiting for Maya” actually meant – well, Maya wasn't sure exactly what they were doing. It had probably started with aggressive tickling, but now they were just wrestling like 8-year-old boys. Either way, they'd _clearly_ spilled off of Ellis's bed, because they were sprawled on the floor and in grave danger of one or both of them hitting their head on the bedpost or the table leg.

“Hey! Ocean! Sparky! Break it up!” Maya barked.

Ellis and Marina froze, looking up at her.

“Oh! Hey!” Marina said. “What'd Chiron want?”

“If you two sit up and act like people, I'll tell you,” answered Maya.

It took a moment for Marina and Ellis to untangle their limbs and crawl back up onto Ellis's bed.

“Okay, go,” said Ellis. “What's going on?”

“Chiron gave us a quest!”

“ _What?_ ” 

“A quest! Us! I'm going to talk to Rachel this afternoon and everything!”

Ellis said, “Oh my _gods_ ,” just as Marina launched herself at him in excitement, and it was hard to tell whether he was reacting to Maya or Marina. Probably both.

“A _quest!_ ” Marina exclaimed, throwing one arm around Ellis's neck and using the other to drag Maya onto the bed next to them. “ _Us!_ ” She knocked her head against Ellis's. “Quest!”

“Mari,” Ellis said, with the calm that comes only from having spent the majority of one's life dealing with a fiercely energetic person, “Don't do the head thing, you'll kill brain cells. We need those for the quest.”

“Fine, fine,” replied Marina. She smushed her lips awkwardly against his, then Maya's. “Quest!” She scrambled off of Ellis. “We have to pack. Clothes, toothbrushes, weapons, ambrosia and nectar, fish food -”

“Fish food?” repeated Maya. “Real food, yes. But for humans, okay? _Some_ of us can't live off of fish food, Ocean.”

“Shut up, Maya,” Marina said playfully. “Go talk to Rachel, we'll pack for you. Real food and everything.”

As soon as Maya had run back off out of the cabin, Marina slid the bins out from under Ellis's bed. Ellis nudged her aside and said, “Go call your mother. You know your dad, he's liable to show up in the middle of the quest if he gets worried. So check in with Annabeth, she can keep him in line.”

“Ah, yes, good idea,” replied Marina, nodding. She headbutted Ellis again, more gently this time. “Don't forget the shields Uncle Tyson made us.”

“No worries, I've got it covered,” said Ellis. “Now go.”

Marina nodded and scurried off to make the call.

Before long, the three of them were sitting on a bus.

Marina was fidgeting. Maya reached across the aisle and jabbed her shoulder with a pen. “Sit still.”

“Forgive me for _fretting_ , Maya, but I know you've heard the stories,” snapped Marina. “I know you know as well as I do that my mom and dad's first quest started on a bus.” In a whisper, she added, “A bus that _exploded_.”

Ellis shushed her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “We'll be fine. We can handle this. And nothing's going to happen to the bus.”

Both girls relaxed. Ellis hadn't quite inherited full-on charmspeak, but he was quite persuasive when he needed to be. It helped that they both _wanted_ to be reassured in that moment. Marina leaned sideways onto Ellis and within half an hour had dozed off.

–

“They're taking a _bus_?” Percy asked.

“Yes,” said Annabeth, sighing.

“A _bus_?” repeated Percy. “That's a terrible idea!”

“Percy, just because _you_ had _one_ bad experience on a bus on a quest doesn't mean they're inherently evil,” Nico pointed out. He leaned over and kissed Percy gently. “Don't worry about it. They're big kids, they can handle this.”

“Exactly,” agreed Annabeth. “Relax, Seaweed Brain. And maybe call your mom and apologise for putting her through this yourself when you were Marina's age.”

–

Everything was remarkably quiet until they actually _reached_ the summer camp in Kansas.

It was late when they snuck into the camp, and the dark was probably for the best since it took a full half hour for them to find her cabin.

Considering that the cabin was being attacked by harpies and contained about 20 screaming girls, it probably should've been easier. Never has it been said that Ellis, Marina, or Maya is the most observant of demigods.

“Plan!” Marina shouted, which the others had long ago learnt was we're-in-trouble for ' _I have a_ plan.' 

“Go,” replied Maya.

“One of us – you, Maya, since you're quest leader and all – goes inside, gets the girl,” Marina said. “The other two – me and Ellis, because we're basically telepathic -” she wiggled her finger between their heads “will hold off the harpies. Just scream for us when you've got the kid.”

“Good plan,” Maya declared. “Simple. Let's go.”

The last that Maya saw of Ellis and Marina before making a run for the cabin was the two of them knocking their heads together like a pair of baby goats.

She burst through the back door of the cabin, which caused renewed screaming from the kids inside.

“Everybody _calm down!_ ” Maya yelled. The screaming stopped, but the girls didn't seem particularly calm. “Which one of you is Emily Sparks?”

A dark haired girl on a lower bunk in the far corner of the room raised her hand. “I am. Who are you?”

“My name's Maya, I'm here to take you somewhere safe,” answered Maya calmly.

“What about my friends?” Emily asked, eyeing Maya suspiciously.

Maya ran her hands through her hair. “I – I don't know how to explain this, but those monsters outside, they're here for you. And once we get you out, they'll leave your friends alone.”

“Why should I believe that?” replied Emily.

“Be _cause_ ,” Maya said, “my friends are outside risking their lives so that I can come in here and have this conversation with you, Emily.” She paused so that the girls could hear the sounds of fighting outside. “It's our job to protect you, to bring you somewhere safe.”

“Okay,” Emily said hesitantly. She crawled off of her bed and gathered some clothes and toiletries into a backpack. “Where are we going?”

“Someplace safe,” Maya repeated. She grabbed Emily's hand. “When we get out there, we need to _run._ I'll call for my friends, but if one of us falls behind you need to keep running, okay?”

Emily nodded, but didn't say anything.

“ _Go_ ,” Maya ordered, and they took off running. “Ocean! Sparky! Let's get moving!”

“On it!” Ellis and Marina called back in unison.

They don't stop running until they're clear of the camp and the remaining harpies. They ducked between two buildings in the small town just outside of the camp. 

After they catch their breath, Maya introduced Emily to the other two half-bloods.

“Guys, this is Emily,” Maya said casually.

“Hi Emily,” Ellis replied. Marina was leaning close to the younger girl, looking her directly in the eye. Ellis elbowed her. “I'm Ellis Grace, this is Marina Jackson. Ignore her, she's rude.”

Marina pulled her head back and dropped it onto Ellis's shoulder. “I'm not rude, I'm _fascinated_. Look at her eyes, El, really look.”

“They're dark,” Ellis observed, shrugging almost imperceptibly.

Marina hit her head against his shoulder a few times. “Ellis, Ellis, Ellis, when you're looking at a half-blood, what's the easiest way to guess to any degree of accuracy who their parent or grandparent is?”

“Eyes,” responded Ellis automatically. “Nose, ears. Depends on the god.”

“And her _eyes_ are...?” Marina said in that descendant-of-Athena leading tone she always pretends she never uses.

“ _Oh_ ,” said Ellis.

Maya blinked at the 11-year-old. “Mari, your dad's gonna _freak_!”

–

“Weren't they supposed to check in a few hours ago?” 

Jason was fretting.

“With _Chiron_ , Jason, not with us.”

Annabeth was not.

“But Chiron promised he'd call!”

“Oh, gods, Nico,” Piper said. “Not you, too.”

“Go apologise to Sally with Percy,” said Annabeth, with a wave at the two _grown men_ standing in front of her. “But stop freaking out. At least in front of us. This is getting embarrassing.”

Nico repeated “ _Embarrassing_?” at the same moment that Jason frowned and said, “Apologise?”

“Percy called Sally to say he's sorry for everything he put her through when he was Mari's age,” Annabeth explained. “He finally understands the stress of the parental side of things.”

“And yes, you _are_ being embarrassing,” Piper pipes in. “We're in _public_.”

–

Two days later, Maya was pounding on the door of a bed and breakfast in a small town in Indiana. In the window was a small sign that read “ _You are safe here_ ” in Latin and Ancient Greek.

The door opened. “Hey, kids,” said the pretty woman standing in the doorway. “How can I help you?”

“Miranda!” Maya exclaimed. “We need help and somewhere safe to sleep. Is the safe-room free?”

Miranda nodded, studying them. “What happened?”

“We were sent to pick up a new kid,” answered Maya, gesturing to Emily, “and we've had not two minutes to rest properly since Kansas.”

“ _Kansas?”_ repeated Miranda. “Come in, come in. Walk straight through to the kitchen, it's just down the hall. I've got a demigod first-aid kit in the cupboard.”

“Thanks,” said Maya. She passed Miranda and walked down the hall, trailed by Emily. More slowly, with Marina supporting most of Ellis's weight, the others followed.

“Well, it's not broken,” Miranda declared after looking over Ellis's ankle. “Nothing a little ambrosia and some time won't put right.”

Marina nudged him with her shoulder as Miranda handed him a square of ambrosia. “See, you'll be fine in no time.”

“There are only three beds in the quest room,” Miranda said to Maya. “And we're all full up otherwise, or I'd offer another room. I'm sure we can find a cot or an air mattress hidden away somewhere, though.”

“Oh, no,” Marina said, “don't go to any trouble. You've helped us plenty. El and I can share.”

Miranda nodded and led the half-bloods upstairs to the room set aside for questing demigods. 

“I'll be in the office downstairs if you need any help,” Miranda said. “And there are a few drachma in the side table if you need to make a call.”

“Thank you,” Maya said again.

As soon as Miranda was gone, Maya crossed the room and pulled a coin out of the drawer.

“Call your dad,” she ordered, looking at Marina.

“ _No_ ,” replied Marina firmly. “We can do this.”

“Mari, we won't have failed if we ask for help,” Ellis said. “In fact, it's the only way for us to succeed.”

“I don't want to die out here,” Emily said quietly.

Marina's eyes fell on the young half-blood.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Then Marina held one hand out to Maya. “Gimme. And be quick about it, or I'll change my mind.”

Maya tossed her the coin and Marina turned and left the room. As she walked away, she heard Emily ask, “What's _with_ her?” and Ellis reply, “Our parents are war heroes. She feels a lot of pressure to live up to that.”

She locked herself in the bathroom and turned on the shower (easiest way to kick up a nice mist inside). 

“Oh Fleecy, do me a solid,” she requested as her father had taught her to so long ago. “Show me Nico di Angelo, at the Jackson residence.” And then she chucked the coin into the water.

After a moment, her dad's face appeared, but he wasn't looking at her.

“Daddy?” she called, then winced. _I am a 14-year-old on a quest, not a 6-year-old on career day._

“Rina!” Nico replied, jumping and turning to face her. “Is something wrong?”

“This kid, Emily, she's a child of the Big Three. She's gotta be, with all the monsters she's drawing. Actually – actually we think she's your sister,” said Marina. “But that's not important right now. We were camped out last night and we were attacked. Our supplies were destroyed and Ellis got hurt.”

She hears a distant “ _What?”_

Nico waves a hand behind him. “Shut up, Jason. Rina, is El alright?”

“Yeah, he'll be fine. We're in Miranda Gardiner's safe house, she helped patch him up,” Marina answered. “Look, Dad, I didn't call you for an update. We need – you need to come and get us. We've got more monsters than I've ever seen in my entire life hunting us down and Ellis won't get far on that leg, ambrosia or not.” She sighed and looked down, avoiding Nico's eyes. “We won't make it home alive if you don't pick us up.”

There's that “ _What_?” again, although this time it might've been from Dad, not Jason.

“I can be there in two minutes,” Nico replied.

“No!” Marina said immediately. “No, come in the morning. We haven't gotten a real rest since we left Camp.”

“Alright,” answered Nico. “I'll be there at 8. Be sure to thank Miranda.”

“Of course.”

“I love you.”

“Love you, too, Dad. 'Bye.”

She waved her hand through his face to end the message and then turned off the shower.

When Marina got back to their room, Emily looked up at her and asked, “Is it true you were kicked out of school 6 years in a row?”

“Not in a _row_ ,” Marina replied, flopping onto the bed that Ellis had claimed. She dropped her head onto his uninjured leg and looked up at him. “I did 4th and 5th grade at the same school.”

“Still a lot, Mari,” Ellis commented, poking her playfully in the ribs.

"Yeah, fine, I’m a bit of a mess," Marina snapped, waving her outside hand violently. "I’m Albus frikkin’ Potter. I want to make a name for __myself__ , even if that means causing a little trouble.” She dropped her arm to her side and broke eye-contact with Ellis, rolling onto her side. “Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about it.”

“Shh, shh,” said Ellis, stroking her hair calmingly. “I know.” He kissed her forehead. “When's Nico coming to get us?”

“Tomorrow morning, 8am,” Marina answered.

“We should get some sleep,” Maya said.

Ellis nodded. “Mari, budge up.”

–

Marina woke up the next morning on her side facing Ellis, whose arm was draped across her middle.

There was a soft knock at the door.

“Kids? It's me,” Nico's voice called. 

Marina rolled off of the bed and picked up her sword (just in case) before saying, “You can come in.”

When the door opened and revealed her dad, she dropped her weapon and ran forward, throwing her arms around his waist. “Thanks for coming, Dad.” She turned around and chucked a shoe at Maya. “Up! El, you too.”

Ellis groaned and pulled the blanket over his head. Maya grudgingly sat up.

Emily rolled over and blinked up at them.

“Oh, yeah,” Marina said. “Dad, this is Emily. Em, this is my dad, Nico di Angelo. He's gonna take us home.”

–

That night, at the Campfire, Ellis and Marina and Maya were heroes to all of the younger halflings, despite Marina's worries that asking for help would make them somehow _less_... heroic. 

And, as predicted, Emily was claimed by Hades.

(She wasn't too happy about this, especially when she learnt that she'd be alone in the cabin, but learning she had two older half-siblings – including one on the Greek side who'd had a very long time to learn his powers and was more than willing to train her – seemed to be a plus.)

“I'm exhausted,” Marina mumbled, her head on Ellis's shoulder.

“It's almost midnight, I'm not surprised,” replied Ellis. “C'mon, let's go back to the cabin. You can even crash on the bottom bunk if you want.”

Marina pressed a clumsy kiss to his cheek. “Thanks, El. We should do this again sometime.”

Ellis laughed.


End file.
